The Key
by StarryDreamer01
Summary: Swarek would like the key to his truck back... but at what cost? (3x11 speculation, canon-balled)


**A/N:** This story is a speculation, **based on a combination of both the Global TV and ABC promos for 3x11**. It is strictly based on what was seen in the two promos that aired after 3x10 this past Thursday. I know nothing more than what was in those two promos and thus everything here is what I _hope_ will happen next week.

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When she'd slapped the keychain onto his desk, she hadn't intended the loud clap that echoed through the bullpen. A few heads turned at the sound. Others pretended they didn't notice. It was, after all, round 3 (or was it 9 or 10?) for Sam Swarek and Andy McNally.

The Swarek-McNally partnership was notorious throughout 15 Division. From day one when the rookie McNally brought the undercover, seasoned cop Swarek to his knees, the bullpen whispered of their chemistry. While many in that first year had speculated as to their off duty partnership, few could discount their collar rate. Their partnership bagged more criminals than any other in the division. It was why Staff-Sergeant Best went against his better judgment and allowed them to be paired together regularly.

In their second year, the division buzzed at the sheer idiocy of Swarek breaking cover to invite his partner into his bed. It had nearly gotten him killed and the rookie fired.

The whispering had subsided in year three. Swarek and McNally were out as a couple and their professionalism on the field and continued success on the streets garnered the approval of the cops at 15 Division.

When Detective Barber died the whispering and gossip resurfaced throughout the bullpen. While no one knew what had really happened between the partners, the tension was palatable. McNally would arrive 10 minutes early for shift to secure a seat in the front for parade, while Swarek was purposefully late, choosing to sit on a bookshelf in the back. If their paths crossed by accident, it was typically McNally who would exhale a huff and stare at the ground, as she'd do her best to avoid even so much as accidentally touching Swarek.

The tension hit new levels when Swarek had apparently asked for his extra truck key back. McNally pursed her lips, looked to the sky and did her best to control the very emotions she was secretly losing every night at home. And so, when Swarek, toeing the pavement with his boot and avoiding eye contact, asked for his key back, McNally had had enough. While she'd resisted the urge to just toss them at his chest, the metal keyring (with the spinning Protect & Serve shield at its centre) hit his desk with such force that the sound carried, sending the surrounding officers into a low murmur as they strained to listen in on round 3.

She'd looked him dead in the eye, the first time since _that night_, and reminded him that she'd left a box of his belongings from her apartment in the back of his truck. Swarek flinched ever so slightly at the sharpness of her words. It was par for the course as he'd been equally snide with her earlier that day.

What McNally tried to bury within herself was the reality of what that key had meant to her. When she'd collected his belongings into the banker's box, she'd purposefully held on to the key. It was as though it was the one last thread that tied her to him. While he hadn't said the three little words that had burst so easily from her own lips, the key seemed to say it for him. It was as though he was telling her that what was his, was hers.

His key was hers.

His truck was hers.

His heart was hers.

With the return of that simple plastic and metal Ford key, that bond was broken. All ties were officially severed. They were no longer an _us_. No longer a _we_. They were two separate people who could one day be _friend_s.

The thought sent McNally's stomach into her throat. She didn't want to be his _friend_. She wanted to share her life with him.

It was McNally's friends who came to her defence where Swarek was concerned. Collins had swiped her book ("Good Riddance: How to Ditch that Loser and Keep Smiling") and pointedly showed it to Swarek. Callaghan reminded him of his own fate and the potential regret he'd inevitably face. And finally, Diaz cornered Swarek in the men's locker room as he was spinning the spare key on his index finger. Diaz chastised him for treating McNally like a first year rookie who hadn't knocked him to his knees in more ways than one.

The words had stung in a way that Swarek hadn't expected. Long after Diaz, Collins and Callaghan had packed up and gone home, Swarek stood staring at the extra key that hung limply off his finger.

What had he done?

The next morning when McNally went to her locker to tuck her clothes away, she was stunned to find a key sitting on the top shelf, the Protect & Serve shield propped up, facing her.

She sucked in a breath and willed the sting that had formed in the back of her eyes to subside. McNally snatched the key from her shelf and held the cold metal in the warmth of her hand and brought it to her chest. It was as though the thread had been restrung, the connection reestablished.

That day for parade McNally was 10 minutes early, as she always was and sat at the front. Swarek was purposefully late and sat on the bookshelf in the back. Unlike other days, when they'd avoid eye contact and walk in opposite directions, that day he smiled at her and she at him. It wasn't a teeth baring smile, but a quietly honest one filled with understanding and hope. It was a smile that was shared between two people who were more than just friends; two people who were linked by an extra key.

**.:FIN:.**

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